


Challenges of Dealing With (and Being) a Werewolf

by Lunaraen



Series: Challenges of [3]
Category: Challenge of the Spooky Isles
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 15:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14167830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunaraen/pseuds/Lunaraen
Summary: They have to take his word for it, have to trust that their friends aren't still getting closer to a bloodthirsty kraken and Durango hates it. He hates this, all of it, and maybe he's grateful they're not even really getting a break.(AKA: Kate's a werewolf and this is an interesting way to spend the night.)





	Challenges of Dealing With (and Being) a Werewolf

By all means, they should be getting some kind of break now, because the sky's an inky mess dotted with stars and a moon just bright enough to highlight and outline hungry monsters and Poseidon agreed to give them the night, even pausing the hourglass.

(They have to take his word for it, have to trust that their friends aren't still getting closer to a bloodthirsty kraken and Durango hates it. He hates this, all of it, and maybe he's grateful they're not even really getting a break.)

A chance to kick back, eat, and get some rest is more than what they've gotten in a while, but having to deal with the furriest, neediest wolf he's ever met manages to take up their time and attention.

(He's grateful he has something to focus on beyond being angry, but he'll never let Kate know it, not even when she's like this.)

It almost sounds too crazy to be true, except that they've fought crazy snake slime blocks, got to see a giant squid monster terrorizing their friends and preparing to send them to the nether, barely avoided flesh-eating future-seeing witches, and ran into a whole host of other monsters and things that should be downright impossible but have tried to kill them anyway.

Durango's just happy she's basically a big dog instead of some terrifying creature ready to tear their skin off.

(And it's also annoying because he almost wishes she turned into more of a monster. He likes dogs, darn it, even if he's really not feeling all that great about Kate, and getting her to play nice wasn't hard, not when she just seemed hurt and hungry and was already happy to see Zed. A slab of meat took care of the hungry part, at least.)

"What is it?"

Durango looks up, tilting his hat back after a moment. The gaze he meets isn't sharp, but it matches Quinn's voice in the sense of being exhausted past the point of accepting any nonsense, one eyebrow arched sharply.

"What?" He has a feeling he knows darn well 'what', but he's tired too.

"You won't stop staring at her." Quinn thinks about it for a second before correcting herself, arms staying crossed. "Glaring."

Right. Because there's nothing weird about knowing the big, fluffy wolf leaning heavily into Quinn's side is Kate.

(Maybe it's because of how much time she spent alone, but nothing weird ever seems to faze Quinn as much as Durango maybe wishes it would. It would be nice to not be the only one freaking out inside. Maybe it's because they're both tuckered out and this is just how Quinn deals with being bone tired, or maybe it's because Kate pretty obviously has a favorite and there's nothing new there.)

"She's been nothing but a monster since we met her." He shrugs, loose and relaxed, resting his palms on his knees as he stares at their fire. "It just kinda figures she ain't human."

"Durango. She's more like a big puppy than a monster."

He glances up at her again, Quinn scratching behind one of Kate's ridiculously fluffy ears.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I appreciate it. I'll take a dog over something nasty any day." They've got more coyotes than wolves, back home, but everybody knows nothing beats a hunting dog, except maybe one good for herding. "Think I like her better this way, even if I wish she'd stop trying to use my hat as some kinda chew toy. Makes sense she'd be a pain even like this."

And maybe she isn't doing anything right now, but there's a gleam to her eyes that means trouble, and while Durango's plenty happy those sharp teeth aren't going to be used on him, his hat doesn't deserve the critical look Kate's giving it.

He’ll still take it over the thoughts crowding the back of his mind, like how he’s sure River can’t swim because he can’t either and mesas aren’t known for deep water.

Food will help, if only because it can’t hurt.

"She doesn't have any control over it right now." It sounds like a bad excuse to him, especially when Quinn was just teasing him about having curly hair before he got his hat back. He likes keeping his hat on, thank you kindly, and if it means keeping his hair mostly out of sight, all the better.

"According to her."

"And Zed."

Zed echoes with a light groan of his own, pausing mid-bite through his fish to pet Kate on the head, and maybe he's just covering for Kate but Zed's also the smartest and nicest zombie Durango's ever met. Durango can’t even bring himself to be jealous that Zed gets to eat sooner, due to not needing cooked meat on account of being undead and all.

"Well, you're easier to believe." Durango shrugs again before shooting another sharp look at Kate. "Doesn't mean I have to like having my poor hat abused."

"She's just playing."

The laugh he gives is small and tired, warm if only because of how worn it sounds as he turns the meat on the fire, carefully taking away the first strip of meat that looks actually cooked before putting a raw slice above the fire right beside the still not done thicker chunk.

"I'm waiting for her to find a game that doesn't involve me."

* * *

 

Warm. The fire is warm, her packmates are warm, Kate is warm.

So Kate is happy, watching the orange glow shift and sway between amber and deep red, the color of the blood dripping from the meat being seared over the heat, as it licks at the darkening logs and branches.

Kate's simple.

(Well, not really, and even now the word doesn't sit quite right, but she knows she's happier now than she was before, the ache settling in her bones easily beating the biting, ragged pangs and brittle cracks that always come with a shift. She's usually happier like this anyway, even if she can't fully remember what's before beyond vague ideas, blurry memories, and general feelings.)

She's currently comfortable, she's having her ears scratched, and this means she should be happy.

She is. Much better than she was. That doesn't stop the lingering fears, doesn't keep the mental image of being betrayed out of her mind. She's torn between hating the surrounding water and the nasty blue creature able to control it, might not fully remember the words but can remember the rumble, the nasty tone as he tore it all from her and Zed.

No, she doesn't like him. He's loud, big, scary, lying. Not a good packmate, trying to hurt her and the pack she has.

One of her current pack members is like that, angry and big, but he's also grouchy and lets her have some bacon, even if he tries to make it look like that's not what he's doing. He's here to protect them, and the way he growls under his breath to hide the way he smiles and how he keeps sneaking her food is fun and also maybe her fault because he's had to yank his hat out of her jaws and then she had fun trying to keep it away from him and tug it right back out of his grip.

That made the others happy and it makes her feel safe. They're warm and fed and don't have to worry about monsters.

(Zed doesn't count— and Kate holds onto his name the same way her fangs dig into another piece of crispy pig meat, because he's her oldest pack mate and he's always been there— and he's smiling too, which means he isn't worrying. Not too much.)

She wants for little more than that.

Except the hat.

Kate wants to gnaw on the hat. Maybe nibble. In her defense, it's fun.

More importantly, his reaction is fun in a way that feels oddly familiar even though she's sure she hasn't been around him like this before.

He growls and grumbles and it feels like a game.

She's always liked games.

But right now she's comfortable, and if she pushes it, she might not be allowed back to cuddle, or get as comfortable as she is right now, and that would be _bad_ and a shame.

The shift hurts enough anyway that resting's always been a good way to pass the time until she's bent and broken again, and she has smart pack mates who'll get out of the way if she thrashes around too much when the sun comes back up.

(And if she didn't tell them like she thinks she did, Zed will make sure nobody gets hurt.)

She's never had a real pack like this before. The last time she was like this around anyone but Zed, it was around Him, the terrifying liar, and she remembers being scared. Kate wasn't hurt, but she'd wanted to impress him and he'd seemed bored, angry, amused at first and then leaving her and Zed all alone again.

This is much better than last time, and knowing there are monsters out there doesn't keeping her from trusting her pack to protect her.

Kate stretches her paws out in front of her, jaws opening wide as her tongue sticks out in a long yawn, before she settles on the ground, paws digging into the loose dirt. She's happy it isn't sand, and it's comfortable, her head leaning against a leg that isn't moved, and her ears are scratched again as her eyes close.

She could get used to this.


End file.
